Father of six sent to jail for fly-kicking woman

A FATHER of six has been sent to jail after he drunkenly fly-kicked a woman in the street.

At Ipswich Magistrates Court, Ashley Arthur Fisher pleaded guilty to a public nuisance charge in relation to the assault.

The 29-year-old was spared a more serious charge after the victim of the attack declined to press charges against him.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Jo Colston said the assault took place about 1.15am in Ipswich's CBD on August 13.

Sgt Colston said Fisher and the woman had been involved in a verbal argument before it turned physical.

She said the assault was captured on Safe City CCTV cameras and played the footage in court.

Fisher kept his eyes to the ground, as the footage showed him suddenly punch the woman in the head then chase after her and fly-kicked her in the torso. The force of the kick sent the victim to the ground.

Sgt Colston said police located Fisher soon after the assault took place.

Officers noticed Fisher was drunk and that the knuckles on his right hand were split and bleeding.

However Fisher insisted he had cut his hand some time ago and that he had not "disrespected anyone".

Defence lawyer Trevor Hoskin said Fisher had no memory of the offending.

He said his client wept as he was shown the CCTV footage for the first time, a few hours before he was brought into court.

"My client said he was angry with himself and ashamed and couldn't believe he had acted in the way he did," Mr Hoskin said.

Mr Hoskin said Fisher did not know the woman and that his client may have reacted to some verbal provocation.

He said Fisher had six children and a good work history and suggested his client could be placed on probation as punishment.

Magistrate Stuart Shearer noted Fisher had four pages of criminal history and had been jailed for breaching domestic violence orders.

"It doesn't matter if violence is domestic or public, it's not going to be tolerated and people expect the courts to take strong action against those who think this is an acceptable way to behave," Mr Shearer said.

"What we saw you do on camera was completely disgraceful and gutless behaviour."

Fisher was sentenced to six months in jail. He will be released on parole after serving a month behind bars.